Dulloo sets deadline for Municipalities to prepare Waste Management Action Plans

Jammu: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, on Wednesday held a meeting of Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UDD) to take stock of measures being taken up to build the capacity of Municipal Corporations including different ULBs of J&K in processing of solid and liquid waste on scientific lines.
Present in the meeting included Principal Secretary, Finance, Chairman, Pollution Control Committee (PCC), Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Commissioner, SMC/JMC, Director ULBs Jammu/Kashmir and other concerned officers.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the concerned to come up with comprehensive and component wise waste management plans for both the Municipal Corporations and other municipalities of J&K.
He directed the Municipal Commissioners of SMC and JMC to formulate scientific plans for both the cities for treating the solid and liquid waste generated daily by the households. He enjoined upon them to keep the future projections in view in terms of both population and waste generation.
Dulloo further advised them to make simultaneous plans for treatment of legacy waste in order to clear the sites of this untreated garbage. He asked them to identify the feasible locations for establishment of Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) for solid waste, Compost Unit/Bio-CNG plants for liquid waste and dumping sites for inert waste.
He observed that management of waste is of utmost priority for both health and environmental concerns associated with it. He said that this task requires all seriousness and dedication on part of the Department to fully rid our cities and towns of the untreated waste and garbage.
He enjoined upon the J&K PCC to be proactive in enforcement of environmental protection laws in J&K. He sensitised them about their mandate and asked them to use their writ to act against the violators as per laws in force.
The Chief Secretary also reviewed the works being carried out by JMC, SMC and Directors of ULBs in both the divisions of Jammu and Kashmir.
Commissioner Secretary, H&UDD, Mandeep Kaur, presented an overview of different projects proposed and approved by GoI under SBM 2.0 for districts of the J&K. She revealed that the facilities for both solid and liquid waste treatment are being created all over J&K in addition to inviting tenders for treatment of legacy waste on scientific lines.
Commissioner JMC, Devansh Yadav, threw light on the detailed works undertaken by the JMC, SMC and other local bodies in different parts of J&K. He elaborated that the waste is segregated for its treatment and the solid waste is being taken to MRF facility where as the liquid one to compost units for making good soil or Bio-CNG plants for fuel making.
It was further explained that different components of the waste are treated differently with some producing Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) being used by cement factories. It was added that only the inert waste without any use is sent to landfill sites for its final disposal.
Regarding the facilities created in various districts, it was divulged that MRF of the capacity of 40 TPD by JMC and 100 TPD by SMC is presently in operation for treating its waste. In addition, the ULBs of Jammu had installed the capacity of 79 TPD 17 locations and ULBs of Kashmir 18 TPD at 9 locations across Kashmir.
Moreover, for treating the liquid waste STPs of the capacity of 25.29 MLD had been established by SMC, 36.7 MLD by LCMA, 71 MLD by JMC, 13.6 MLD by the ULBs of Jammu and 6 MLD collectively by the ULBs of Kashmir division.
Regarding the upcoming facilities of waste management, it was informed that an MRF facility of the capacity of 150 TPD would come into operation at Kotbalwal in September this year and one of 55 TPD at Bandurakh for JM. For SMC, an MRF of the capacity of 459 TPD is soon going to be approved by MoHUAunder the revised action plan.
As far as upcoming STPs are concerned, it was added that STPs of the capacity of 66.9 MLD are under construction in Srinagar, Sonamarg, Baramulla and Charar-i-Sharif in Kashmir Valley. In Jammu, the STPs of the overall capacity of 109.2 MLD are going to be established at Jammu, Akhnoor, Samba, Kathua and Katra towns.
Regarding the remediation of legacy waste, it was revealed that a total of 6.16 lakh MT has been tendered out by JMC and 11 lakh MT by SMC for its treatment. Similarly, ULBs of Jammu has tendered 1.87 lakh MT and 2.98 lakh MT of legacy waste by ULBs of Kashmir for its treatment through NAFED.
The meeting was further apprised that legacy waste of the magnitude of about 1.56 lakh MT by JMC, 1.72 lakh MT by 36 ULBs of Jammu and 0.78 lakh MT by 40 ULBs of Kashmir stands remediated till date. Besides, the PDMC consisting of engineers and design analysts for taking up works of waste management in smaller ULBs of J&K is going to be finalised soon.
The meeting was also apprised that on an average 450gm/person/day of waste is generated in big cities and 300 gm is generated in smaller towns. The municipal bodies have been tasked to segregate the dry and wet waste and process it on scientific lines to reduce the environmental pollution as per the NGT guidelines.